On some rare Oplophoridae (Caridea, Decapoda) from the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Abstract

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) divides the Atlantic Ocean longitudinally into two halves, each with a series of major basins delimited by secondary, more or less transverse ridges. Recent biological investigations in this area were carried out within the framework of the international project Mar-Eco (Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). In 2009 (from October, 25 to November, 29) 12 benthic sampling events were conducted on the R/V Akademik Ioffe, during the first oceanographic cruise of South Atlantic Mar-Eco. As a result we report some rare Oplophoridae species collected during the cruise. This family includes 73 species occurring strictly on the meso- and bathypelagic zones of the oceans. Five Oplophoridae species were sampled: Acanthephyra acanthitelsonis Bate, 1888; A. quadrispinosa Kemp, 1939; Heterogenys monnioti Crosnier, 1987; Hymenodora glacialis (Buchholz, 1874) and Kemphyra corallina (A. Milne-Edwards, 1883). Among these, H. monnioti and K. corallina are considered extremely rare, both with very few records. Of the sampled species, only A. quadrispinosa and H. glacialis were previously recorded to southwestern Atlantic, so the Oplophoridae fauna of the South MAR seems more related with the fauna from the eastern Atlantic and Indian oceans.